System for flushing closet-bowls.



H. T. CRONK.

SYSTEMIOR FLUSHING CLOSET BOWLS.

APPucmoN man 110125.1914. nENEwEo .111123.19111 LQSQSL 1111111111111 N1.11.118.

" UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE. j

HARRISON TAYLoR'CRoNK, oF NEW YORK, N. Y., iassumere TocnoNx-sALTEBcoiir- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORWisfaisi.

Specication of Letters Patent.

SYSTEM FOR FLUSHIN G CLOSET-BOWLS.

Patented Nov. 5, i918.

pnlivation ledNovember 25, 1914, Serial No. 873,920. Renewed February23, 1918. -Seria1 No. 218,900.

T all 'whom it may concern.'

Beit-known that I, HARRISON TAYLOR Cnoiyii a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident o f the borough of Manhattan, in the city,county, and btate of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Systems for Flushing Closet- Bowls, o f which thefollowingjs a specification. V A v `)ylfylinveiition relates to a systemfoi-Hushing water-closet bowls andv while the invention isgeiierallyapplicable to watencloset bowls, uriiials andf'lushingTeceptacles of any character, it is particularly applicable inofiice buildings and similar places where the conservation of fiushingfluids is of economical importance.

','Ihe primary objectof the invention is to provide an improved forni ofbowl the iii- `terior of whichcan be effectively tiushed with a minimumamount of flushing fluid.

l attain this object broadly by directing a pair of flushing streamsalong .the curved sides of a bowl from a position in advance ot' therenter of detilement toward a restricted or tunnel shaped outlet tocause a whirling action sutiicient to raise. the heavy refuse and drownthe light refuse toward the core of the moving stream.

Among the other objects incidental to the primary object above recited,is to obtain the maximum force of fluid ejected into the ing' form liestsuited to make the desired whirl with the least possible amount offluid.4

I att-iin these objects by reducing the cross-sectional area of theflushing uid outlets from the similar area of the feed pipe supplyingthe outlets, and by designing the outlets so that the flushing Huid asit is ejected along each ot' the inner sides of the .howl shall have abroad iat solid form un- 'der eonsiderable pressure.

lt'isl yet another object of the invention to provide a bowl having suchan arrangement of parts and having the flushing Huid soldirectedtherethrough that any light floating refuse matter is dampenedandthe. Whole mass of refuse and water quietly whirled from tlfe bowlwithout splashing.

l attain this object. broadly bv constructing if bowl the interior ofwhich is formed with rounded tlowin,r lines leading to a funtosuch'devices when used on railroad cars,

nel shaped outlet and in which the bottom is.slightly concaved fromfront to rear to forni a well beneath the center of deilement and theflushing water is fed thereto in the form of twodiverging and fan shapestreams having a movement downwardly and iiiwardly toward the center ofclefilem'ent and laterally of the general movement of the streams towardthe rear outlet. Further I` feed practicallyall of the Hush water longitudinally down the long sweepingcurved bottoni from the front of thebowl in a direct line or substantially direct line to therear outlet. YVarious other -objects and advantages ofl the invention will bein partobvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, and in partwill be more fully set forth in the following particular description ofone form of mechanism embodying my in vention. The invention alsoconsists ofcei'-4 tain new and novel features ot construction andcombination ot parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is longitudinalvertical sectional view taken through a preferred em bodiment of myinvention. taken on the irregular line 1-1 of Fig. 2; l

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view takenL on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1looking down into the bowl; i

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical 'sectional' view taken on the line 3 3of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a detailed horizontal sectioi'ial 1 View taken on the line 4-4of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken 0n the line :Ti-5 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, there is shown av howl, 1, preferably of greater lengthl'rom l'ront. to rear than the hoppers now in'geueral use. This bowl isprovided with a top ledge. foi-'niing a seat. 2, which also constitutesa flushing rim, and with inwardly projecting vside ribs, 3. positionedslightly below (he scat. The hopper .has abottom. 4. which consideredlongitudinally from front. to rear, is in the form of a compound curve.the front portion 'of which has a radius ot' small diameter and the rearportion of which is horizontally iiiclined and has a radius` ofrelatively large diameter` the two portions forminga longl sweepingcurve of that. form which )vill giv 'the greatest velocity to the water'fed down f the front portion. This rear portion is slightly concaved toform, a well 5 at the center of infilement of the bowl indicated by theline 3 3 and terminates at its rear in a dam 6. A vertically inclinedoutlet 7 of relatively large cross-sectional area is positioned at therear of the bowl adjacent the dam to receive the refuse swept from thewell overA the dam. A continuous side wall 8- has a front portion 9which bellies outward and rounds with a continuous curve into the bottomso that the forward portion of the bowl is substantially in. the form ofthe end portion of an oblate s'pheroid.

The rear portion of this side wall is formed of substantially straightconverging side portions 10 which lead directly to the outlet 7 to formin effect a straight sided funnel 11 in rear of the refuse receivingfront portion.

A feed pipe 12, which may be connected directly to the city waterpressure through a suitable flushometer or which may lead from either ahigh or a low down tank (not shown) supplies flushing fluid to the inlet13 at the rear of the flushing rim 2. This rim has a bore 14substantially horse-shoe shape in form and preferably has acrosssectional area materially less than the corresponding area ofthe'feed pipe 12. The ends of the bore adjacent the front portion of thebowl are dependent and open into the bowl in the form of long narrowoutlets 15 disposed on opposite sides of the longitudinal medial line.The outlets are arranged in a box 16 forming part of the front wall andextending downwardly for a short distance from the top thereof. Theoutlets at the lower end of the boi; are arranged so as to direct thetwo streams of flushing Huid down and along the curved front, wall ofthe bowl. The sum of the cross-sectional areas of these outlets ismaterially less than the similar cross-sectional area of the bore 14,or, at

least is materially less than the cross-sectional area of the supplypipe 12. A few fluid outlets 17 of relatively small cross-sectional areamay be positioned on each side of the center of dcfilement to cause athin film of fluidl to flow quietly down the cui-"ed side/vallsto meetthe edges of the main stream. but these `side films are not essential totheoperation of the device and may be omittedi,y In order to form a filmofwvater 4down the'ffront wall a pair of these small outlets ma openfrom the bore 14 on each side of the i ain outlets and close to thesamt. It is desirable that no fluid be fed down the side walls 0f thefunnel part of the hopper, as this would be a waste having no usefulresult besides any auch side feed at. this place would seriouslyinterfere with the' action of the whirling uniss as it passes throughthe funnel.

The. main. outlets 15 are substantially rectangular in plan and aredesigned so as to through the outlets. The partition is preferably wedgeshape with the pointedend thereof disposed at or adjacent the top wallof the bore 14. This partition is placed with its longest portiondisposed s mmetrical relative to the longitudinal m ial line of the bowland has sides of such' a depth and of such'a length from the top portionof the bowl downward to prevent the union of the two streams until theyare at or slightly in advance of the center of defilement.

In order to provide a means for conveniently controlling the projectiveforce of the fluid, a tube 19 preferably of metal, may be removablyinserted in the transversepassageway 20 connecting the supply pipe 12with the bore 14. The bore of this tube may be constricted at two'points, as b means of a' plug 21, with one of said plugs isposedslightly in advance of each of the side openings 22 in the tube leadingto the two bores in the rim, but itis obvious that the plugs may beomitted and the flow controlled entirely by varying the extent andcharacter of the openings 22..

In operation the refuse matter is received in the wellwhiclxris arrangedat the center of defilement, in advance of the funnel formed by theconverging portions of the wall and 1n line with the rush of fluid downthe front wall. By any 'suitable means a measured quantity of flushingfluid is admitted from the pipe 12. is forced through the reduced bore14 in two directions about'op'- posite sides of the rim and finallyforced in the form of a pair of broad liquid shots through the stillfurther` reduced outlets. Each of the two main streams flowing` from thepair of outlets are directed down the, front. wall of'the bowl andalongthe bottom and adjacent side to a point of the funnel wall adjacent the outlet and preferably at a point about. midway* between thecenter of defilement to the dam; The Wedge partition apparently eansesthe main body of eaeh stream to be somewhat reflected outwardly againstthe curved sides of the bowl causing thel streams to spread out fanshape and causing the outer thinned out edges of each' Istreammomentan-il)r 'to ride up the sides. rlhe most advanced portion of eachstream is refieeted inwardly and learwardly from the funnel walls whilethe outer edges fohliuward and aet to choke the outlet momentarily witha whirling plug of fluid. This causes the succeedingportions of thestreams to pile up the sides and as the plug is moving through theoutlet, the streams tlow down the sides toward each other adjacent thecenter of deflement. while continuing their general movement toward theoutlet. The inner' edges of the streams meet at the center of the bottomor slightly in advance ot' the center of dctilement and the unitedk`t'use which forms a wall of relatively great mass to finally sweep thebowl. The outer edges ot` the united stream as it approaches therestricted passage formed by the fulnel slightly rise and fold over in'ardly toward the center of the stream folding with the higher side ontop thus eliminating any tendency to splash and forcing all refusemattei' both light and heavy7 toward the core ot' the flushing. Thematter is nally swept over the dam in the form of a whirling cylinderleaving the end portion of the tiushing charge in the well in positionto receive the next dumping as is usual with devices of this character.

In describing the action ot` this flushing tluid in the bowl it has beennecessary to rete r to two streams as it they were entirely separateelements but it, is to be understood that reference is merely made tomain bodies ot' tluid which are connected at all points in advance ofthe partition at least by means ot` a thin lilm of Huid.

The total amount of usning fluid tied at each tlushingispreferablycontrolled by some suitable tlushometcr which is set to deliver justlsullieient fluid to tlush the bowl cti'ectively with its usualdumpingof refuse. and

in this way waste otl flushing tluid is minimized. lt has been foundthat tour quarts ot water under normal city pressure of 17 lbs. has beenfound sutlieicnt to flush a commercial size bowl ot its usual dumping.

Reducing the area ot' the outletsl has the. eti'ect ot ejecting thefiushing fluid forcibly into the bowl thus economically utilizing thet'ull pressure from thc feed pipe so as to act on the refuse materialnot only with the weight ot' the limited amount. of water used but withthe maximum flushing torce possible with the particular t'eed pressureused. i

Placing the metaltubc with its restricted bore in'the transversepassageway of the bowl provides a convenient means for controlling thereduction of area and thus forms in eti'ect a nozzle ejection of thefluid into the flushing rim and provides for a relatively strongprojectile force to'the Huid.

It is to be understood that the statements of movement of the tiuid isthe theory of operation, as now understood, which best agrees with theobserved action of the rushing water in the bowl described, but as theentire operation is conned to less than two seconds the detailed actionis too quick for observation.

`While I have shown and described, and have pointed out in the annexedclaims, certain novel features of my invention, it will be understoodthat various omissions, substitutions and changes in the formand de-Ytails of the device illustrated and in its o eration may be made bythoseskilled in t e art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. A closet. howl adapted to receive refuse matter and comprising meansfor directing a pair of flushing streams toward a point in advance ot'and adjacent the refuse matter to form a body of moving water at thispoint. said bowl including side walls,the forward portions of which acton the stream simultaneously to cause the succeeding portion ot each ofsaid streams to change their general direction of movement toward eachother thereby to meet adjacent the refuse mattei' to raise the same intothe body of moving water, means for momentarily retarding the How ofsaid refuse and its carrying water and the rear portion of said walls.

acting on the. stream to cause the edges of said stream to turn inwardto drown all light or floating refuse niattcr.

2. A\ closet bowl having a rear outlet, a bottom terminating in a damadjacent said outlet and slightly coneaved from front to rear to torni awell at the center of detilement, outwardly bellied side walls roundinginto said bottom to form the central portion of the bowl somewhatelliptical in cross-scction. :aid sides (amici-ging toward said outletto t'orin a horizontally disposed funnel of decreasing cross-sectionalarea toward said outlet.` a-pair ol [lush water outlets at the frontportion of the bowl anden opposite sides it' t'hc longitudinal medialline of the bowl. said outlets directing t'lic streams along the sidesadjacent the, bottom toward the walls ot' said tunnel and a wedge shapedpartition having its broad end adjacent the outlets ffor separating themain portions of said .streams until they have passed down the troutportion of the bowl.

2?.. A\ closottbowl having a front wall and a bottom rounding from oneinto the other` said front wall being provided with a Dair 1rov all,

of flush water outlets, a conduit leading to each of said outlets, saidoutlets being flat and of materially reduced cross sectional areacompared with the cross sectional area of the conduits thereby to formej ecting nozzles at the forward end' of each conduit, a .partitionconstituting the means for separating said outlets and extending belowsaid conduit in the direction of movement of the streams from saidoutlets and adapted to maintain said streams separated for a portion oftheir travel after they have been ejected through said openings, saidopenings extending lengthwise of the adjacent front wall whereby flatshots of flush water are ejected along the front wall.

4. A closet bowl having the interior portion thereof in the form of anoblate sphe riod with a pair of horizontally spaced flush water outletsopening into said bowl and conned to the front portion thereof, saidoutlets being elongated and adapted to form the water into flat streamsand means extending into the bowl for maintaining the streams from saidoutlets separated while flowing down said wall, a supply pipe leading tothe Arear of said bowl, substantially all of the water from said pipebeing directed equally through said pair of outlets.

5. A closet bowl having a front wall and a'shallow bottom rounding fromone into .the other, said.v front wall being provided with a pair offlush water outlets, a partition for separating said outlets andextending in the general direction ofmovement of the streams from saidoutlets. said partition being in they form of a wedge in plan with thebroad end disposed adjacent the outlets.

6. A closet bowl having a relatively long sweeping curved bottomextending from front to rear leading' to a rear outlet having its lowestedge placed slightly above the lowest point of said bottom whereby a'shal-' low pool may be formed on said bottom, said bowl having acontinuous curved wall with a portion overhanging the bottom androunding intosaid bottom and including substantially straight sideIportions converging toward said rear outlet to form a funnel, and arounded front portion uniting said side portions, said bowl having aseat with a center of defilement positioned within said rounded frontportion and in advance of said converging side walls and means forsupplying a main body of llushing fluid to the upper front part of saidcurved bottom and above` the pool, said means comprising two mainstreams directed toward said funnel.

7. A closet bowl having a relatively long sweeping curved bottomextending from front to rear leading to a rear outlet having its lowestedge placed slightly above the .lowest point of said bottom whereby asha1 low pool may be formed on said bottom, said bowl having acontinuous curved wall with a portion overhanging the bottom y androunding into said bottom and including substantially straight sideportions converging toward said rear outlet to form a funnel. and arounded front portion uniting said side portions, said bowl having aseat with a center of defilement positioned Within said rounded frontportion and in advance of said converging side walls, means forsupplying a main body of flushing fluid to the upper front part of saidcurved bottom and above the pool, said means comprising two main streamsdirected toward said funnel and means for supplying a thin film of waterto the front portion of thebowl to prevent splashing from said mainstreams.

8. A closet bowl having a substantially .stream before it is directedinto the funnel shaped member.

9. A closet bowl having a substantially flat bottom providing a shallowchannel for a main flow of flushing fluid, a funnel leading from therefuse receiving port-ion of said bottom to anl outlet, said bowl havingside walls leading to said funnel, means fordirecting two main streamsof flushing fluid along the side walls of the bowl toward the side wallsof the funnel adjacent the outlet, the upper port-ion of said side wallsbeing curved inwardly to fold the sides of the llow inwardly as it riseson said sides, thereby to dampen any floating refuse and to imprison airwithin the flow.

10. A closet bowl having a refuse receiving portion and a horizontallydisposed funnel portion leading rearwardly therefrom, means in advanceof said funnel for causing the flush water to pass in a pair of streamstoward said funnel portion in a direction to be deflected by the wallsof the funnel portion to assume a vertical whirl through the funnel, a.rim providing a seat-A for said bowl over the receiving portion thereof,said rim providing a pair of conduits for' ilush water and havingoutlets disposed in the front of the receiving portion in advance of thefunnel portion.

11. A closet bowl having a refuse receivmg portion and aV horizontallydisposed funnel portion leading rearwardly therefrom, the refusereceiving portion having horilzontally disposed side portionsoverhanging mee, lei

the bottom. thereof,

means for feeding a pair of flushing streams along said bottom .into

said :funnele the over-hanging side portions said stream 'to inturn theedges, th. eef whereby said stream is caused ,o assume a substantiallyvertical Whirl as it passes into the funnel and means for directing' aportion of said streams lat erally of their general direction of iloivto form Wall of linsh' `fluid in rear of the most advanced portion ofthe whirling adapted to aat on streams.

to .a flush luid 'positioned in said 12. A closet bowl havingtransversely disposed passageway in the rear thereoi= and having a boreleading from said passageway outlet, a tube adapted to be passageway andhaving an opening in the *de thereof adaptedto open to said bore,nie-ans for supplying a flushing nid one end o said tube, said tubehaving constriction in the bore there of positioned between seid meansand said openinf.

13, eloset bowl having a rear outlet, a bottom terminating in a damadjacent said outlet and slightly oonoaved from front to rear to form.veli at the center ol' de- Afilement, outwardly -bellied side Wallsrounding into said bottom to form the cent-ral portion of the bowlsomewhat elliptical in cross-seotion, said sides converging towardsaidontlet to form a horizontally disposed funnel of deoreaain;nCross-sectional area toward said outlet, a pair of flush water outletsat the front portion olt 'the bowl and on opposite sides of the.longitudinal medial line of the bowl, said outlets directing the streamsalong the sides adjacent the bottom toward the Wall olsaid funnel andmeans Afor separat-ing the main portion of said streams untilvtiiey havepassed down the iront portion of the bowl.

lel. A oioset'bowl havings a slightly oonsite the outlet (zo-acting avedand horizontally disposed bottom at its center of delilement and anoutlet .leading from said bottoni at one end thereof, curved sidesrounding into said bottom and a Water ejeoting nozzle positioned abovethe normal Water level on said bottom and disposed adjacent the end ofthe bottom oppowith said curved sides for directing a .dashing streamdown- Wardly toward said bottom thereby to raise the refuse olf saidbottom toward the core of the stream in its passage toward the outlet.

l5. A closet bowl having a slightly conoaved and horizontally disposedbottom at its center of defilement and an outlet leading from saidbottom at one end thereof, said bowl having curved sides leading to saidbottom anda Water ejecting nozzle positioned above the normal waterlevel on said bottom and coacting with said curved sides for directing aflushing stream relative to said bottoni. to raise the refuse offl saidbottom.

16. A closet bowl having a slightly oo ncaved and horizontally disposedbottom at its center of delilement, side walls overhanging the bottomand rounding into the same, and an outlet leading from said bottom atone end thereof, means for directing a flushing stream relative to saidbottom to raise the refuse off said bottom and simultaneously to dampenany light lloating refuse material and force all refuse toward the coreof the stream in its passage toward the outlet.

Signed at New York sitye in the county of New York and State or" NewYork, this twenty-third day of November, A.. D., 1914.

HARRSON TAYLOR CRNK.

Witnesses:

S. A. THORNTON, M. J'. Coornn.

